ED sleuths arrest four for Rs 1,137 cr investment fraud

The accused, identified as NM Umashankar, chairman and managing director of Disc Assets Lead India Ltd; N Arunkumar, its director; and V Janarthanan, MD; and Saravanakumar, director, Dal Marketing Solutions, were produced at the Sessions Court in Chennai, which were remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

The officials had initiated an investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the firm and others based on the FIR registered by the State Economic Offence Wing under sections 406, 420 and 120B of IPC on the basis of a complaint received from public.

A statement from ED said that the company collected money under various schemes, under which the customers were promised lands if they paid a fixed amount every month for a fixed period. But the company defaulted and no lands were allotted.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had initiated inquiries against the company, stating that they were doing business of collective investment scheme without taking the board’s permission. Then, in order to circumvent the SEBI provision, the company started collecting money from the customers through another company by name Dal Marketing Solutions Limited.

The amount declared to be collected by the company from the customers was Rs 1,137 crore. But lots of inconsistencies were found between the data submitted by the directors and the data collected from the banks.

Investigations under PMLA revealed that the amounts collected have been diverted in the form of investment in various subsidiaries, royalty, donations, land advance, commission, etc. to many entities that were linked to their immediate family members or close relatives.